De Lima seeks to update magna carta for public school teachers

Detained Senator Leila de Lima on Sunday said she filed a measure that would promote, protect, and uphold the rights of teaching personnel by instituting a revised Magna Carta for Public Teachers that would be more responsive to their present needs.

As the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, De Lima filed Proposed Senate Bill (SB) No. 2497 repealing for the purpose the antiquated Republic Act (RA) No. 4670 or the “Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.”

“Teaching is a noble yet thankless profession. The need to preserve the integrity of our educational institutions coincides with the need to ensure the protection of our teachers. This arguably begins by revisiting and revising a decades-old law that has failed to adequately respond to the changing of times,” she said in a statement.

De Lima also pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic “further aggravated” the educational situation in the Philippines - the last country to reopen schools for in-person classes since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

The pilot testing of face-to-face classes started on November 15 in several areas in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with 100 public schools participating but subject to strict health protocols.

“Teachers were not spared from this ordeal as inadequate government support led them having to use their own resources for school-related expenses, especially for distance learning needs like laptops, phones, printers, and internet connection,” she said.

De Lima added that teachers living in remote areas were forced to travel for at least an hour daily to get a better internet signal, and that they faced “intense workload, inaccessible internet, scarcity of gadgets and mounting paperwork as part of their perennial struggle which was made worse by the pandemic.”

Under proposed SB No. 2497, De Lima said teachers’ salaries would “compare favorably” with those paid in other occupations requiring equivalent or similar qualifications and training abilities.

They would also be properly graded to recognize that certain positions require higher qualifications and greater responsibility than others.

Meanwhile, the salary scales of teachers shall “provide for a gradual progression from a minimum to a maximum salary by means of regular increments, granted automatically after three years.”

If passed into law, the measure would ensure that “no teacher [would] be required to pay out of their personal finances for materials, facilities, services, or any other objects or activities necessary and related to the performance of their duties.” — DVM, GMA News